The Date"
by TM3 Dinobot
Summary: Two familiar Trans-fans go out on a date. And in battle!


Bob was a little worried about how the conversation he was currently   
having on his phone was turning out. "Well, I dunno....."  
"C'mon, you two were made for each other," insisted Ashley on the other line.  
"But you know how lousy I am at dating."  
"That's okay. Laura hasn't had that much experience on meeting guys   
herself."  
"Normally I'd say I'll try anything once, but dating a complete   
stranger...."  
"What's wrong with that? She's cute, smart, caring, considerate,   
committing. Oh, and she's also a Trans-fan."  
Bob thought about this for a moment. He had seen a lot of girls a   
few years ago when just getting out of college, and from what he had noticed,   
he couldn't find anyone matching the criteria Ashley just described to him.   
And any time he did, they only ended up just being friends.  
  
"Okay," Bob said after some thought finally. "I'll just take her to   
a standard night out at the movies and dinner."  
"Great. I'll just call her and tell her than you can pick her up   
tonight." Bob sighed as Ashley gave him Laura's address. It was in fact   
very true that he was never exactly the Lady's Man, always being something of   
a computer nerd in his high school and college years. He was always assured   
by his family and cohorts that with a little effort, he could be a total babe   
magnet, but he didn't do much about it. Yes, he did have everything that   
might be attractive to the female type (a V-shaped torso, six pack, descent-  
sized biceps, etc.) , but he was so humble about himself that he thought   
those qualities were all fairly moderate. But now, the only thing left to do   
for the rest of the day was prepare to make himself presentable for Laura   
Courtier.  
  
The doorbell rang in Laura's apartment, just as she finished putting   
on her lipstick. She was a little nervous about the turnout of the evening   
herself, and found it a miracle that she had managed to put on her eye liner   
straight. She opened the door and saw a tall man with a ponytail in casual,   
yet somewhat more appropriate apparel. "Uh, hi. You must be Laura," he   
said. "I'm Bob," he said extending his hand to shake hers.  
"Well, it a pleasure to meet you Bob. Ashley's talked about you a   
lot."  
"Favorably, I hope. Are you ready to go?"  
"Yeah, hang on. I have to get my coat. BRB."  
"BRB?"  
"Be Right Back. Sorry, that's just my chat room talking."  
As she went to her closet to grab her coat, Bob couldn't believe the   
vision of beauty he just saw. She had matched not only his standards on the   
subject's temperament, but also the physical appearance. Laura had soft,   
hazel eyes (same as Bob, so he always felt partial to that color), strawberry   
blonde hair, full lips, and a figure than was thin but not twiggy. Sort of   
like Bob's own "strong-but-not-burly" sort of thing.  
  
  
The evening began at the theater, where Bob and Laura had gotten the   
first seats for the 6:00 PM viewing of the new Car Robots movie. (By this   
time, Japan's new Transformers were so popular, they decided to do another   
movie.) Bob was enjoying the film, but was tempted many times to call out   
absurd remarks to the film like in his favorite show, Mystery Science Theater   
3000. He didn't want Laura to get the impression that he was nothing more   
than ongoing jokester. He was only slightly relaxed by the fact every once   
in a while, Laura would whisper to him almost the exact same MSTie crack he   
was thinking of.  
  
They were about halfway into the movie, when Bob suddenly had a   
humorous, though constantly played out thought. As he yawned just then, he   
stretched out his arms and "smoothly" placed his arm around Laura's shoulder.   
Laura smiled at him. Something odd was going on between them. It was almost   
as if they had known each other their entire lives, but they couldn't explain   
to themselves why.  
  
  
After the movie, Bob and Laura headed off to a nearby Olive Garden   
for dinner. Bob had always been partial to it's Fettuccini. As they waited   
for their meal, Laura began the inevitable conversation.  
"I've, noticed that you're not as talkative as some other guys I've   
dated..."  
"Well, what do you mean?"  
"I mean by now, most of my dates would be telling me things like   
'you're the first date I've had in a long time' or something, when they   
actually just broke up with their girlfriends the other night!"  
"Well, you're not going to get that from me," Bob assured her. "I   
was never exactly that skillful in obtaining friends."  
  
There was a silence for a moment as the conversation seemed to have   
died out. "...Although back in high school I did have a number of friends in   
this one Beast Wars chat room I often went to."  
Laura looked up at him rather brightly. "Oh, I didn't know you   
chatted."  
"Yeah, it seems to be my only solace and escape from the drudgery of   
the real world."  
"I know what you mean..."  
"Have you ever seen the movie "You've Got Mail"? You know, that old   
movie with Tom Hanks?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"Well I sort of had something like that going."  
  
Laura felt a bit confused. "Something like what?"  
Bob cleared his throat, hoping that what he was about to say would   
come out the right way. "...Well, I had an 'Internet wife'. Every time I   
chatted I hoped that she'd be in there."  
"Oh yeah, I've seen a few couples in my chat room too."  
Bob sighed. "Yes, we did everything together. We ate together, we   
fought side by side in battle, we even "merged Sparks" and had kids."  
"Right, I read an essay on Spark reproduction on the 'net that went   
something like that. What happened between you two?"  
Bob looked rather gloomily. "Well, I got a girlfriend in the real   
world which was pretty cool. Somehow my parents got the message that I was   
out there socializing more with other human beings. Any time I wanted to   
chat, they would just kick me off the computer. She later dumped me for some   
drone on the football team."  
"What happened to your chat friends?"  
"I don't know...... I never spoke to them again...."   
  
As they finally got their dinner, Laura spoke up again, still intrigued by   
the subject.  
"By the way, what was her name?"  
Bob looked up from his plate. "Who?"  
"Your Internet wife?" she replied.  
"Oh, uh....BlackWidow," he said, not giving it a second thought.  
  
****  
  
After their romantic dinner for two, Bob started to drive Laura home.   
They were both just about to agree that the evening had been near perfection,   
when surrounding traffic simply froze to a deadening halt on the overpass   
they were currently on. "Well," Bob said after noticing that there was road   
construction about a mile ahead, "at least this gives us a bit more time to   
be together." Laura smiled at him, although she looked a bit troubled.   
"Bob", she said. "There's something I think I should tell you..." "GET OUT   
OF THE CAR, NOW!!!" yelled someone else. Bob jerked his head in surprise as   
he looked out the window, and into the barrel of a 9mm hand gun.  
  
The gun's user had a rather planned out strategy for hold-ups such as   
this. Rather than simply going to the first car he spotted (as did many   
felons in drastic situations), he would walk down the sidewalk during traffic   
jams like this, and pick out the sportiest looking car he could find. Bob   
being a computer animator with an exceptionally wide paycheck, had one of the   
latest Ford Hybrids; an expensive, electric car that was still quite   
controversial in the world of the automotive. "I SAID GET OUT!!!" the   
stranger screamed again. Bob and Laura both piled quickly out of the car,   
without there being much of a choice.  
  
Bob got out and found that the psycho still had the gun pressed   
against his forehead. "Give me all your money!" he said, more quietly but   
still as demanding. Bob looked behind the stranger and saw Laura taking off   
her coat. He could tell that she was going to do something, but he couldn't   
tell what. She nodded to him, in assurance that everything would turn out   
alright, and Bob bent over, as if to reach into his pocket and hand over his   
wallet. The stranger saw a flash of light, and felt a tremendous crack in   
the head as Laura did a roundhouse kick across his left temple. He dropped   
his gun, as everything around him seemed to blend into each other. Laura's   
kick reminded Bob of a move that Black Arachnia might have pulled off.  
  
While the psycho was still humped over trying to establish just what   
the heck it was that happened, Bob got an idea. He had always wanted to try   
this, and was a bit satisfied when he realized that this was a perfect   
defensive strategy. He threw the discarded pistol over the side of the   
bridge, and started beating the stuffing out of the stranger, exactly like   
Dinobot did to Megatron in the Beast Wars episode "Chain of Command". He   
continually gave him a right, a left, then another right, and then another   
left again. Finally, he gave the man a powerful shove over the edge of the   
bridge, and into a passing convoy, loaded with bales of hay. In only a few   
seconds, the entire ordeal was over.  
  
  
Bob looked up at Laura, who was staring at him in utter astonishment,   
and he was doing the same to her. They had both been put under a dangerous   
situation, and without panicking, fought side by side in "battle". Once   
again, they felt like they knew each other and have been living like this   
their entire lives. They simply stood there, staring into each others' eyes.   
They edged in a little closer towards each other. This would have been the   
lead-up to the classic "Danger that later leads to burning romance "scene,   
when suddenly a car horn honked. They turned and saw that the road was   
moving again, and their car was holding up traffic. "Uh, maybe we should get   
going..." Bob said, a bit hurriedly. He and Laura both sat down inside the   
car, both wondering if the moment could have been anymore spoiled.  
  
  
****  
  
  
Neither of them spoke during the rest of the drive back to Laura's   
place. Bob walked Laura to her door, and gave her a casual, yet romantic   
kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later then," he said as he turned around.   
He had just reached his car door, when Laura called to him. "TM3 Dinobot,"   
she said. Bob froze on the spot. TM3 Dinobot was his chat room name all the   
way back in high school, and he hadn't mentioned it. How did she know my   
name? he wondered. He turned around and saw Laura walking towards him on the   
walkway. "I wanted to tell you something, Dino," she said. "I....." she   
said, pausing for effect, "...am BlackWidow!"   



End file.
